'If you're flying to Europe anytime soon – please read this'

There's a massive transition happening right now in how Europe manages its borders - and Aussie travellers are getting caught up in the chaos, as the new system rolls out across major airports.

After a disastrous arrivals experience last week, I now understand why some travel experts are calling the newly introduced digital immigration process, "a systematic failure".

If you're travelling to Europe anytime soon, I urge you to keep reading.

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The European Union launched a new Entry/Exit System on April 10, 2026, changing the way non-EU citizens enter and exit the 29 countries within the Schengen Area. 

This includes all the Euro Summer hot spots like Italy, France, Greece, Croatia, Portugal and Spain.

Non-EU nationals arriving into a Schengen country should now expect biometric registration of facial imaging and fingerprints at passport control, alongside more detailed questions about their stay. 

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First-time registrations are increasing wait times at the borders, with reports of four hour lines at some immigration check points leaving plenty of passengers stranded after missing their connections.

I thought I'd be able to avoid the worst of it because I was travelling to Rome just before the peak Euro summer period.

I was also transiting through Helsinki, where passport control has always seemed less crowded and less chaotic than when I've flown through London or directly into Rome. 

My connections through Helsinki have always been seamless. I've never waited in the immigration line for more than a few minutes. 

But this time, all bets were off. 

The first stirrings of anxiety came two hours before landing in Helsinki, when I found out we'd be arriving late. The flight had taken longer than originally scheduled, because Finnair now avoid flying over conflict areas in the Middle East.

When the pilot announced that strong head winds were also slowing us down, I realised the window to make my connecting flight to Rome had become dangerously tight.

We landed in Helsinki at 6:08am. My flight to Rome was boarding at 6:45am.  

I bolted to the immigration area and my heart really started racing when I saw at least 300 people already in line ahead of me. Seven other international flights had landed just before mine, so immigration had been hit with the bottleneck of arriving passengers.  After less than 10 minutes in line, I noticed at least another 200 people had joined the queue behind me. 

Annoyingly, only half of the immigration booths were open.

As I stood in line and realised I had Buckley's chance of making my connection, I jumped online and found the next available flight to Rome was nine hours later, or I'd have to overnight in Helsinki and jump on the same flight the following day. Not ideal.

I certainly wasn't the only one panicking.

It turned into one of those bizarre situations where you start trauma bonding with complete strangers standing in line beside you, through your shared frustrations:What time is your flight?  When does it board?  No way you'll make that!  Does anyone know what's happening? OMG this is ridiculous!!!

The worst part about the situation was the complete lack of guidance from authorities. There were no public announcements - just two overwhelmed airport staff, shrugging their shoulders and telling everyone to join the queue. They looked as confused and exasperated as the passengers, to be honest.  

When I noticed a separate "short connections" line with significantly less people, I decided to take my chances. I grabbed the attention of an airport staff member and told her my flight was about to board. 

It must have been the look of pure desperation on my face, because she waved me through. Strangely, she didn't even check my boarding pass – she just took my word for it. And I was able to bypass at least 200 people who were still standing ahead of me in the general line.  

I stepped up to the window at immigration control at 6:43am. The officer asked me where I was going, why I was travelling and my return date. He took my photo and my fingerprints and I was all done by 6:45am.

The entire process took two minutes but that did seem unusually quick. The lady in front of me was at the booth for a good five minutes.

As I walked into the terminal, the departures board showed my flight had already started boarding. Of course my gate was the very last one, at the opposite end of the terminal, but I somehow managed to just make it. 

As I collapsed into my seat, I noticed the last few passengers looked on the verge of tears as they ran onto the plane, clutching their boarding passes like they were winning lotto tickets.

My flight was due to depart at 7:20am and I wondered if they'd delay the flight to allow extra time for other connecting passengers who'd been held up at immigration. 

But they closed the aircraft doors at 7:22am and we pushed back at 7:23am. The flight attendant told me three passengers had missed the flight. And I knew that if I hadn't talked my way into the shorter line, I would have been the fourth. 

It's ridiculous that so many passengers are being forced to deal with this travel chaos in Europe right now.  Why didn't the airport have more immigration staff? Why hadn't the airline accounted for the impossibly short connection times? It also made me wonder if airlines will be more flexible about holding flights for connecting passengers during the peak summer travel season.

Aviation Lecturer Tash Heap says that when it comes to holding flights for connecting passengers, airlines need to consider a range of factors, including the needs of other passengers on the departing flight, network and scheduling needs, airport slot times and curfews, duty limits of pilots and crews and regulatory obligations. 

"In some regions, like the EU, airlines can be fined for delayed (and cancelled) flights. The airline would be weighing up the cost of the delay vs how many connecting passengers are impacted," Tash says. 

"There's a better chance of an airline holding a flight for you if you're connecting from one of their own flights eg. British Airways to British Airways." 

Things to consider if you're about to head to Europe

Adrenalin junkies might get a thrill out of the pandemonium that's playing out across airports in Europe right now, but if you're already an anxious traveller, your next trip might be your worst nightmare.  

There are a few things to consider.

If your first entry point in Europe is your final destination, or you're planning an overnight layover, you might have long wait times at immigration, but you'll eventually make it through. 

However, if you're landing in a Schengen country with a connecting flight to another destination – I urge you to allow much more time than you normally would. 

If you already know it's going to be a tight connection, speak to the airline and try and change to a later flight.

Make sure all flights in the journey are booked on the same ticket, so it's the airlines responsibility to get you to your final destination if you miss the connection.

Advocate for yourself. Don't be afraid to speak up. Find an airport staff member and urge them to move you to the front of the line.  

And remember, the new system also applies when you're departing a Schengen country for the first time – so allow plenty of time for your journey home as well.

Finally, and yes I know this is a big one to ask, but if you're not connecting to another flight, please show some empathy for those who are - and let them cut ahead of you in line. Travel Karma will repay you, I promise. 

The luck of the draw

This chaos doesn't seem to be happening at all airports across Europe. A friend just transited through Paris and she breezed through – no dramas whatsoever.

Another friend just arrived in Rome - no lines, no stress, no fuss. But the delays are only expected to get worse, as Europe head into their peak summer travel period.

Some airports have even gone so far as to scrap the system completely.

Another friend arrived in Brussels and waited in line at border control for two hours. When it was finally her turn for processing, the immigration officer told her they wouldn't be taking her photo or fingerprints because they'd made the decision to abandon the new system. 

They just didn't have the staff to cope with the huge volume of passengers moving through arrivals so they reverted to the old system of simply stamping passports.

It's also been reported that Greece scrapped the Entry and Exit System for British tourists to avoid disruption at the height of the summer holidays. Both Italy and Portugal are likely to follow suit.

Of course, you may just need to try your luck and hope for the best. 

My experience ended up being the perfect storm of travel mishaps that resulted in a much shorter connection time than when I originally booked the ticket. 

Thankfully, I was able to troubleshoot my way around it.

Now I'm sitting in Rome eating a delicious Cacio e Pepe and sipping on a lovely chilled Pinot Grigio … but I've absolutely gained more than a few new grey hairs in the process.

You can follow Sami (and enjoy plenty of Italy spam) on Instagram @samilukis